J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Elanboy385

me it was when i was 5, i had a couple good times after i learned, but didnt like the cold so much, i went to vail when i was 8 and then for some reason i stopped going, up until about november of last year (2007) and i have gone about 15 times since then, im back with the bug and it hits me harder than it ever did before.

this summer is all about dryland training along with endurance and strength training for the legs

ahahahaha, i should/ i tried to convince him to give it up, or try to donate it to some bums to make a trash can fire, but hes reluctant

its a good size, kind of like 4 inches diameter, and its like a pimple, and its poking on both sides

lol

yes i think you could say its mahoosive

my friend recently brought back his old board so his girlfriend could go with us when we go skiing/ boarding

the only problem he has with it is that it has a giant bubble in the end of it, between the p-tex, and the skin of the board, he wants me to fix it
as of right now all im doing is warming it up and trying to fix it that way,

if you have any suggestions it would be much appreciated
thanks

I did not know that about skis being heavier and what that means, as i said in other posts, my skis are heavier and they are intermediate downhill/ carving skis, but now for some reason it clicks, i still have a lot to learn

i have a technique of doing them that my father has been doing for all the years he has been skiing, his skis are in almost perfect condition, and they are 12 years old.


Some tools youll need:

1.)A metal scraper, or anytype of straight edged scraper that i spreferebly metal so you can apply alot of pressure to it without it bending

2.) a flat iron or lower end steam iron with adjustable heat settings( just remember to not have any water in the iron

3.) Surform tool, i know that craftsman sells these, also know as a planer, it has many teeth on a cheese grater type surface ( this is really used for repairing any gouges in your base)

4.) a Mill bastard file, straight, with one set of angle on the surface

5.) a grinding stone ( to remove any burrs on the edges, basically your honing the edge with this)

6.) Wax of any kind, red is one of the softer types of wax, it is the easiest to work with but scrapes off easier, i prefer to use blue, it is a nice stable type of wax

7.) colored p-tex ( to repair your bases with, ski shops usually sell it by the foot for about 2-4$ US)

the procedure for doing this is pretty simple
ALWAYS RUN FROM TIP TO TAIL

BEFORE YOU DO ANY WORK, TAKE A PAIR OF BOOTS AND LOCK THEM INTO THE BINDINGS SO YOU HAVE A BRAKE FEE AREA TO WORK WITH

1.) youll want to take your scraper and slowly take it down the ski surface looking from side to side to see that your base is completley flat, not convex, or concave, if you have your skis done at a shop alot this may be likely the case, as all it takes is one little bump on their machine to make your skis uneven. if your skis are uneven, take them to a local ski shop that does this service by hand they will know what to do.

2.) after you have done number 1, proceed to flat filling the base of your edge by :
a.) holding your file flat against the ski base
b.) angling the file so that its slanted at a 45 degree angle but still flat on your ski
c.) pulling the file down towards the tail, applying slight pressure depending on how bad your skis are ( if their rusty or knicked real bad more pressure is needed, if your putting them away for the season and they are still shiny and not to bad looking then lighter pressure is needed
d.) do not fret if you see some of the p-tex coming with it this only means that your shaving it all together which means your skis are flat THis is a good situation to be in
e.) continue doing this alternating every so often with your scraper looking up and down the surface making sure its flat
f.) once the base is well established, you can then proceed to the side edges, and building your actual edge.

3.) if you have any, take some mineral spirits, and rub the base of your skis, as to clean them and get any left over p-tex shavings off of that area

to side file you must:

1.) take your file and set it about half way on the ski, lengthwise so that it is running in the same direction your edges are, take your index fingers on both your hand and put them against the base of your skis, so the file always makes a 90 degree angle
WHAT EVER SKI YOU ARE USING MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THEM MARKED, AS YOU ALWAYS WANT YOUR INSIDE EDGE TO BE SHARPER THAN YOUR OUTSIDE

AS WELL AS THE AREA RIGHT UNDER YOUR FOOT BED FROM THE FRONT BINDING TO THE BACK SHOULD BE THE SHARPEST PART OF YOUR SKIS

2.) begin to file from tip to tail holding the 90 degree angle, you can do this slowly so you always have a constant 90 degree angle so your less apt to slip, take the file to about 4 in. from you tail end of your skis if your a beginner skier( i will explain this in a little bit), if not take the edge the whole way

3.) flip your ski over to the other side and repeat the same process

4.) if you are a beginner skier you will want to take those last 4 in. i mentioned to you, and begin to round off those edges, why you may ask? because with a round edge on the tail of the skis, it is a whole lot easier to turn them, versus a straight 90 degree angle that oyu have to exert twice as much force to turn with

YOU ARE NOW READY TO WAX YOUR SKIS

you can do this in the house no problem just lay down alot of newspaper in your work space to make cleanup a breeze.

you will need to find an area prefrebly a bench that you can lay your skis on so that the tail end of the skis are on the ground while the tips are resting against the bench/ counter, so the skis are at an angle

1.) heat your iron up, you dont want it so high that it burns the wax, just hot enough to melt it, you will heat you iron up all the while you still have your boots attached to the skis

2.) take your iron and flip it upside down so that the tip of the iron is towards the skis so you can 'point' the wax in the right direction on the skis, NOTE: YOU DO NOT NEED ALOT OF WAX, THIS IS WASTEFUL AND MORE WORK FOR YOU TO DO IN THE LAST STEP.

3.) apply the wax to the iron all the while letting the wax drip off the iron on to the ski, make one continuous line of wax from about 2-3 in. from the tip of your ski to about 3-4 inches from the tail end

4.) flip your iron back again so that i looks like you are ready to iron a shirt

5.) take the iron and rub the wax on your skis, you will see it melt and go over the surface of the skis, don't worry if it drips to the side i will come back to that.

6.) keep rubbing the wax on until you have a nice smooth coating all over the skis

7.) take your scraper again after the wax has cooled, and scrape the wax on the base of the skis, you will end up taking off a bit of it but you will still leave a coating on that is flush with your edge( hence the flat base i for-mentioned in the beginning of the feed, the skis will feel sticky on the bottom, thats alright

8. take your scraper and gently along the sides of the edges, just scrape of all the wax that dripped down the sides

9.) then take you stone, and with the same procedure as your side edges run it from tip to tail with the fine edge of it, to remove any burrs, and to hone your egde

10.) find a nylon stocking or buffing cloth, and proceed to rub vigorously the base of the ski till you get a polished finish

CONGRATS YOU HAVE NOW FINISHED SERVICING YOUR OWN SKIS
I ENCOURAGE ALL OF YOU TO ADD ANYTHING TO THE POST OR TELL ME IF I MISSED SOMETHING OR PM ME TO ASK ANY QUESTION YOU HAVE, I WILL BE HAPPY TO ANSWER THEM,

good luck and good skiing

one little bit to add
if you are putting your skis away for a long time, take some folded news paper or paper towel, and put it between where the tips of the ski surfaces and the tails surfaces meet as the wax has a tendency to stick to its self

GOOD LUCK AND GOD SPEED

all i have to say is
www.killy.com

ive got a small number of patches right now, i hope to collect a bunch of patches and pins to give to my kids someday when im older